Conscious Leadership Stems from Genuine Care
I-ACT's concept of Conscious Leadership within the Organizational Well-Being framework pays close attention to genuine care and rapport and the quality of the organizational environment. Simon Sinek's presentation touches upon the importance of team members feeling safe: because you care about them and also to bring out the best in them. One of our consultants, a doctoral candidate on Leadership and Change Management at University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, shared his personal leadership philosophy statement. Mohammadreza Bashiri, BSEE, MBA has led teams from a place of genuine care and resonates with our model for Conscious Leadership, which he articulates here with his own personal touch.
"To bring out the best and the most in people, my leadership philosophy prioritizes Organizational Well-Being. This requires a primary focus not on the outcome, but on the first principles, obtaining the desired outcomes as a result. Rather than focus on primarily on Key Performance Indicators or even behaviors, it is important to realize that everything stems from one’s mind or consciousness. If you are able to affect this deep level and to connect with people at this level, through genuine caring, it is possible to affect their consciousness: the source level of their attitudes, values and patterns of behavior."
"My leadership philosophy is based on Wellbeing. Well-being, put simply, is what most people desire: physical and mental health and happiness. I believe that organizations that sincerely promote and care about team member wellness and happiness perform better in the long run, because members feel safe, cared for and motivated. Leaders can promote well-being throughout their organization by developing rapport, healthy habits, a safe or caring environment, a sense of purpose, sufficient autonomy and opportunities for development or mastery. Leaders should facilitate access to health resources, training and counseling that can help team members resolve personal and family concerns, resolve conflicts or difficulties, and manage stress, anxiety and depression. When your mind is more at ease and your body healthier, you can perform better and you feel your organization truly cares about you, developing loyalty and rapport."
Woodrow Wilson was not without his flaws, but his words on the purpose of life have left an indelible mark in my life. He posits that we are not alive “merely to make a living,” but rather “to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement.” He believed we are here “to enrich the world” and that we impoverish ourselves if we omit. His words inspired me to continuously seek to expand my awareness and sense of purpose and service.
My academic and professional experience in engineering, education, leadership and human resources has led me to understand that I can do my small but non-transferable duty to mankind by playing a role in developing leaders who can inspire and enable others to enrich the world. Our planet is facing global challenges partly due to a failure of leadership.
The world has immense resources, talented and inspired individuals, emerging technical and organizational solutions, but our leaders have been largely unable to translate all the potential of a highly connected world to address our fundamental needs.
More than ever, our world needs competent leaders in all sectors and levels of society, especially in our age of communications and as cities and organizations grow in importance compared to the traditional, centralized power of nation-states. What kind of leaders can bring out the best in the interconnected world of individuals, communities, and organizations towards greater well-being?
I am driven to be part of the solution and to inspire others to do the same, enhancing global well-being, rooted in caring for each other, by promoting health, a sense of purpose, autonomy, mastery, and authentic relationships in a caring environment.
To bring out the best and the most in people, my leadership philosophy prioritizes Organizational Well-Being. This requires a primary focus not on the outcome, but on the first principles, obtaining the desired outcomes as a result. Rather than focus on primarily on Key Performance Indicators or even behaviors, Conscious Leadership seeks to understand how everything stems from one’s mind or consciousness. If you are able to affect this deep level and to connect with people at this level, through genuine caring, it is possible to affect their consciousness: the source level of their attitudes, ethics, values and patterns of behavior.
That is why for me, love is everything. Love is the basis of my philosophy and purpose of life. No matter what you do, where you are, how you perform and whom you work with, starting from a place of love is essential.
Leading the people by their heart has meant fostering friendship in the organization, considering co-workers as family members, treating clients as human beings, being accountable to environment, making people feel safe, and developing your people. This will only will be possible when the leader is full of a love for all things that is reflected in the organization.
As a leader, I have tried to help my people love their job and find a meaningful purpose in what they do and foster the notion of love in the organizations which I have lead.
My leadership philosophy is based on Well-being. Well-being, put simply, is what most people desire: physical and mental health and happiness. I believe that organizations that sincerely promote and care about team member wellness and happiness perform better in the long run, because members feel safe, cared for and motivated.
Leaders can promote well-being throughout their organization by developing rapport, healthy habits, a safe or caring environment, a sense of purpose, sufficient autonomy and opportunities for development or mastery.
Leaders should facilitate access to health resources, training and counseling that can help team members resolve personal and family concerns, resolve conflicts or difficulties, and manage stress, anxiety and depression. When your mind is more at ease and your body healthier, you can perform better and you feel your organization truly cares about you, developing loyalty and rapport.
Rapport: To develop authentic relationships, a leader must genuinely care about their team and needs to frequently demonstrate it through words and deeds. Developing rapport with and among members, requires taking interest in each individual and their interests, concerns, preferences, goals, and values.
By promoting a culture of friendship, care, love, collaboration, resolution of conflicts, like an integrated family, can promote team of teams and collaborative problem solving.
Purpose: I believe it is our natural inclination to seek to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Leaders can help their people see the significance and meaning of their work in the bigger picture. I believe that leaders can frequently remind their team, through various types of communication, about why their work is important within an exciting vision.
A strong sense of purpose can boost their drive to tackle challenges, feel pride in their work and to feel happier in the long run. By helping individuals align their personal goals with the organizational goals, in shared purpose, team members are more likely to be retained and motivated.
Autonomy: I think it is important to recognize and encourage the development of talent, helping team members have more and more choice over how to do things and to have a portion of their time to develop projects that interest them.
Leaders can give meaningful feedback on progress, create a safe environment to learn, even make mistakes, and provide encouragement to responsibly accrue more responsibility on what and how they spend their time in the organization. Self-direction is a natural human urge, and if developed in accordance to the level of development of the team member, it can result in higher satisfaction and performance.
Growth: I understand that people’s happiness and self-worth is associated with their sense of growth versus stagnation. If team members feel that they increase self-mastery and development of skills and knowledge that they value, they will remain happier and motivated.
A leader should take interest in team members’ personal goals and encourage them to develop toward fulfilling their potential. By aligning personnel growth with organizational goals, mission, vision, and strategy, they can promote overall success and be accountable to employees and the organization as a whole.
Often, organizations fear investing in people, for fear their investment will benefit a competitor when they leave. Instead, by generously investing in your people, I believe you are more likely to retain your top talent and to create an environment and industry reputation that is attractive to new talent. If you believe in your vision, then even when talent moves on, you see that you are still making a contribution to society and the industry. Your alumni will continue to bring you positive reputation and a sense of pride in the organization.
Environment (Atmosphere, culture): As a leader, you can foster an environment of openness, where stakeholders can question, be heard, be creative, make suggestions, take risks feeling safe from discrimination, bullying, shaming, blaming, intimidation where all stakeholders feel safe to express themselves, take moderate risks, make honest mistakes, and grow.
In such an environment, your team can be more comfortable, happier, creative, collaborative and productive. It is easier to harness the potential of the team, when individuals trust their leaders and their coworkers to support them, with a flatter. Leaders who truly listen, act upon recommendations or suggestions, and provide helpful feedback in a kind matter will motivate their team. Collaboration is more likely in such an environment, generating loyalty, trust, innovation and cooperation.
